


Open Your Eyes

by bangtans_music_is_air



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Blood and Injury, Bottom Eren Yeager, Boys Kissing, Confusion, Demons and Monsters, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eren Yeager Has Heterochromia Iridum, Eventual Smut, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Light Bondage, Love Bites, M/M, Minor Character Death, Moral Ambiguity, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Eren Yeager, Protective Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Suspense, Temporary Character Death, Violence, eye colour matters, special eren, that's important
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-08
Updated: 2017-07-18
Packaged: 2018-11-29 08:09:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11436720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bangtans_music_is_air/pseuds/bangtans_music_is_air
Summary: They say the eyes are the windows to your soul. They say demons walk around and whisper in your ears. Try to taint your soul so they can feed on it. But it's not the demons you should be afraid of. It's the monsters.Eren Jeager was doing okay, he wasn't the little boy fascinated by the world. He had his mom and his mom was happy so he was happy. But that all changed. His mom disappeared after telling him to run and now he's thrust into a world he was living in but didn't know was a part of. Suddenly magic is real and it's not the Harry Potter kind or the bibbity bobbity boo Cinderella kind either. It's terrifying forces of nature given to the hands of people to control, and not all of them are good. Demons exist and monsters exist and they are the strongest and dangerous of all; they're are created through acts of violence and killing them just makes more.Eren would be lost, or dead if it weren't for Levi, a guy who's duty is to protect innocents though he does not say why, and Mikasa, a girl who has ghosts in her past and seems to know him. From then on Eren meets a diverse group of people, who shouldn't get along but do and once again Eren is fascinated by the world, how cruel it can be.. and how beautiful.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I was inspired by 2 things 1. by This Savage Song with idea of monsters being created by works of violence, and 2. the dust in my eyes making it seem that I could see shapes or sometimes shadows of movement when there was nothing there. So I just wrote this first chapter when it was pouring rain outside and got scared shitless by lightning that struck too close lol. 
> 
> Since idk where I'm going with this story so far the tags seem a mess and my head is a mess but usually when I free write, I come up with the story on the fly. So the tags may change. The only thing I'm keeping for sure is the monsters, demons, magic and the love lol.

Apple trees symbolize youth, happiness, health, beauty, and magic. 

* * *

 

That night it was pouring; it was as if even nature knew the day was going to end badly. The lightning tore across the sky, giving Eren brief moments of vision to find his way home. An umbrella was useless against a storm like this, but he had brought it with him regardless. Eren tried to push his way through even though his clothes and bag were dragging him back; trying to keep him from reaching home. His workplace wasn’t far from home; he could usually walk there in about 10 minutes but today was different. He felt off all morning, actually dreading going to work, not because he hated his job-- it’s nearly impossible to like any job honestly, it’s just a job, a way to make money-- but rather because he didn’t want to leave his mother alone. 

 

It made no sense to him. His mom was okay, and they didn’t live in a bad neighbourhood either. But he just felt that today was not a good day. His eyes were itching all day too, which Eren saw as a bad sign, because every time his eyes itched something terrible happened. Like that one time his eyes were itching non-stop, and later on in the day, he got fired from his old job for a stupid reason (he may have forgot to set up his alarm and was 2 hours late but he was on time all the other days!). But recently the itching got worse, which meant he got more accident prone. He had various bruises all over his body from constantly tripping and falling and bumping into things. 

 

No matter how many times he tried to wash his eyes the itching didn’t stop. Dust kept dancing in his vision making him think he saw movement even though no one was there. Now, his itching eyes coupled with the pouring rain enveloped by the dark moonless night, made it almost impossible to see if he was even going in the right direction. It definitely felt like he was walking for at least half an hour. He wasn’t sure though, and he wasn’t going to fuck up his phone by checking either. Finally the rain slowed down enough for him to see his path. He had taken a wrong turn. He turned back and started to walk faster; his nerves were making him jittery. Yet he couldn’t seem to walk fast enough. A strong feeling of anxiousness gripped at his throat making it hard to breathe, let alone walk fast. But he kept going.

 

At last he saw the back of his house. Just as he was deciding to enter through the back door there was a burst of blinding light paired with a thunderous crack so loud he was left blind and unable to hear anything. He almost fell back by sheer panic alone which flared through him, making his already fast heart, accelerate even more. He immediately crouched bring his hands to his ears and keeping his eyes shut. There was a ringing in his ears and his vision was flooded with white. No one tells you how scary it is to lose your senses. You feel lost, and it could have even the strongest and the most determined soldier crying.

 

Eren didn’t know how long he sat on the sidewalk in the rain, lost even though he was beside his home, trying to find his way, his sight, his hearing, but eventually the ringing dulled and his eyes now no longer saw white. Slowly he pried his eyes open and uncovered his ears. Nothing looked different, except there seemed to be more dust dancing in his vision and the itching in his eyes got worse. Slowly raising to his feet Eren got the strong urge to go around the house, he always trusted his gut so he started to walk towards the front. _That blast had to be lightning_. He didn’t realize it was that… violent, but maybe he was too close to where it struck. Coming around he finally laid his still itching eyes to what the lightning  _ had _ hit. His apple tree. 

 

He had planted it himself when he was young. It wasn’t huge, or rather pretty, and the apples that grew were too much in numbers and went bad too fast, but it was his tree. And now it sat broken. Branches everywhere, apples that weren’t picked, blackened. His tree was gone. Sadness filled him, he was emotionally attached to the tree. Often sitting under it and looking at the sky through the leaves and branches. Imagining far off lands where he was special. Where he could save the world. His mother would join him with his stories adding bits and pieces to make it even better. It was a place where they both could escape; their little doorway to a magical world all about them. And now the door was gone. But his anxiousness wasn’t. The bad feeling was there, it got  _ stronger _ , the broken tree adding more uneasiness.

 

He forced himself away from the wreckage and towards the front door.  _ What is this feeling, I feel like I’m choking. More importantly why hasn’t mom come out to see what that sound was? The lighting hit right outside our house! She would at least look out the window?  _ Eren banged on the door, fear gripping him. Nothing.  _ Why isn’t she answering?  _ Eren tried again, banging harder and faster this time, more frantic, trying to hear past the rain and the wooden door, trying to listen for footsteps.  _ Why did I have to lose my key dammit?!  _ Frustration welled inside him until finally the door opened, just as he was going to bang again.

 

Carla Jeager stood there with an odd smile. To anyone else she would have looked calm but not to Eren. Eren had spent all his time with his mom after his father left. He knew every expression his mom made and what they meant. This right now wasn’t the face of a calm Carla Jeager, this face screamed fear. Eren hadn’t seen this expression since the incident with his dad, and hoped he would never have to see it again.  _ Was he back? Had he done something?  _

 

Eren moved forward concerned, “Mo--???” He was cut off when her hand shot out and kept him from entering the house.

 

“Sorry, he isn’t home right now, he went out with some friends and told me it would be awhile before they returned. Something about a road trip I think?” His mom’s voice was sickly sweet. Eren heard desperation laced onto every word willing him to understand.  _ Understand what though? What’s happening? Who isn’t home? We live alone, just the two of us. It can’t be Dad, he wouldn’t let Mom out of his sight. Then what? What is she saying? _

 

Again he tried to speak but was cut off, “I’ll tell him you dropped by when he returns.” Then she made to close the door, but before she did Eren caught a whisper. It could have been the wind, the rain, or even the creaking of the door as it was closing. He shouldn’t have even heard it through all the noise outside and the thoughts running wild in his head. But he did. It was going to be the last time he saw his mom: terrified, desperate, and determined. And the last thing he would hear her say: “RUN.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren meets the Ackermans.
> 
> Elm trees symbolize inner strength and intuition.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So finally I got this chapter out lol. the editing took long and I hate editing but it's important so I can't skip it. Anyways I decided to add some motifs or whatnot, for example this chapter has the elm tree meaning. These will either have foreshadowing of what will happen in the story or that chapter, or describe something or someone. Try to guess what the Elm tree has to do with this chapter! :)
> 
> anyways enjoy

Eren couldn’t move.  _ What just happened? _ He wanted to bang on the door again, but he didn’t. His mom didn’t make jokes like that. She looked terrified; told him to run. But he couldn’t, because if something dangerous was happening, then his mom was in danger too. He needed to get inside but he needed to be quiet about it, how though? Both the back door and front door were locked and he couldn’t get in through the windows.  _ Maybe there’s a way to unlock a door without a key or pins?  _ Eren shrugged off his bag and found some napkins to dry his hands. He leaned over the bag to shield it as much as he could from the rain and took out his phone holding it inside.

 

It took all of 30 seconds for him to google how to unlock a door, take out his student card, and push the lock to unlock his door. He quickly put all his stuff away, except his phone. Whatever was happening inside that had his mom so scared was dangerous enough for him to call the authorities. 

 

“911, What’s your emergency?” 

 

“Hello, I live on 303 Shiganshina Road, and I think there’s an intruder in our house please hurry!” Eren said in a low rushed (scared) voice then hung up. He didn’t have time to stay and answer more questions, he just needed them to get there quickly. The longer he wasted the longer his mom was in there alone and in danger.

 

He ran towards the broken tree grabbed the sturdiest branch, ran back and opened the front door darting in quickly. He stood still. Listening. Breathing low so he wouldn’t make any noise. It was too quiet; it was unsettling because he couldn’t hear the outside wind and rain. It was as if the darkness sucked all the noise in the world leaving a hollowness; it hurt his ears. His house looked abandoned. Where was his mom? Where was the threat? 

 

He looked down at the time on the phone, 10:54 PM;  _ the police should be here soon _ . He made sure his phone was on silent before slowly making his way into the house leaving his bag on in case something came at him from behind.

 

Eren didn’t know how he could make these decisions and seem calm when his head was buzzing with questions and fear. He just knew he needed to find his mom.  _ Maybe she’s hiding? _ He came up towards the kitchen and glanced inside. Nothing except the quiet. And the darkness. It was odd; the house was dark without moonlight and lamps, yet Eren could still see. Eren’s heart started to pick up again, something was off. Something was not right.  _ But what? WHAT? WHAT? WHA- _

 

He froze. How did he not realize it? It was unnatural, they shouldn’t be there.  _ Shadows.  _ Shadows in darkness. Dozens of them, everywhere, especially in the corners. There should be no shadows, because there was no light in there to  _ cause _ those shadows. He was frozen in pure fear. Fear of the unknown inside the house with him and his mom. He didn’t dare breathe, his eyes bulging out as he watched the shadows move around. Writhing. As if they were living  _ things. _

 

His mom. He needed to find his mom. But the shadows were everywhere, he couldn’t move. His breaths were coming out fast and irregular, tears of frustration and fear threatening to spill and make everything blurry. But he forced them back, he needed to see in order to get out, in order to find his mom. He wasn’t leaving without his mom.

 

The shadows seemed to be gravitating towards him, he needed to move now if he didn’t want to be completely surrounded.  _ How do you fight shadows? Light, but these aren’t normal shadows would my light even work? _ Regardless Eren took his phone out of his pocket and held it ready in his hand. He raised his leg, and moved it sideways, shifting his weight to it once it was safely placed on the carpet. Thank God his mom insisted on having carpets everywhere, because now they muffled Eren’s steps. He didn’t tear his eyes away from the shadows. Seeing as they didn’t change their direction he brought his left foot to join the right one. He paused, waited for any changes, any threats. 

 

Then he raised his left leg again moving it once more but it never made it down. The wall diagonal from him exploded, blocks of it hitting his face and arms, dust getting into his eyes. He barely had time to cover his head when a blinding light enveloped the room making everything hot, drying Eren up in an instant, and burning him in some places. His eyes were screwed shut and he was seeing white again. It was  _ painful _ , like his eyeballs were burning; he didn’t know what to do to stop the pain. He pushed the palms of his hands into his closed eyes, rubbed them, anything to make the pain stop. 

 

He registered two voices yelling through the ringing in his ears, but couldn’t make out what they were yelling about. Eventually the white behind his eyelids was replaced by black, and the pain became a bit more bearable. Eren opened his eyes. He saw black. He tried blinking, rubbing them, keeping them closed longer then opening again but he still saw black. He held up his hand right in front if his face. Nothing. Over the panic that was quickly rising up in him he realized someone was calling his name.

 

“Eren? Are you alright? Can you stand?” It was a female voice, soft. He hadn’t even realized his was sitting on the floor. He tried looking around but he still couldn’t see.

 

“Eren?”

 

“I told you not to use starlight, Mikasa, look at him, he can’t see shit.” This voice was less soft; commanding. 

 

“Eren, can you see?” It was the soft voice, Mikasa maybe. But who knows how many people were there. All Eren knew was that he couldn’t see, he needed to find his mom somehow, and leave. But where were the police?? And how did commanding tone and soft tone (Mikasa?) know his name?

 

“Hello? Can you not hear as well? Mikasa how much starlight did you use? We can’t take him to HQ deaf and blind, Erwin will not be happy, and Hanji will flip out. I rather not see that shit again, I’m still recovering from last time.”

 

_ Erwin? Hanji? HQ? What the fuck is going on? Ugh why can’t I SEE?? Why are they so calm? Do they not see the shadows? Or are the shadows gone?  _

 

“I didn’t use that much Levi, shut up. Eren can you hear me? Are you okay?”

 

“Who are you? How do you know my name?” Eren demanded _. No way would I let them know I can’t see. I need to find Mom, I need to know if these people are a threat.  _ Eren kept his head down, eyes closed, hands lightly tapping around him for his phone and the branch he dropped. He couldn’t find them.

 

“My name is Mikasa, and this is my partner Levi. We are here to help you.” Soft voice informed him. She gently grabbed his hand and pressed something to it. His phone. 

 

“Yeah, so we need to know if you can stand.”

 

“You blew up my wall!” 

 

“Blame Mikasa here, sh-” he was cut off by a low grumble, “fine okay, we needed to get to you before the monsters could. Easiest way was coming right to the point with the most monsters, and you happened to be too close to the explosion, which we didn’t know by the way since we can only sense and track monsters not humans. And now you’re probably blind.”

 

“Not permanently!” Mikasa rushed to add in, “I’m sure Moblit can heal you.”

 

Eren was dumbstruck.  _ Monsters? What drug were they on? And where was the damn police? _

 

“By the way, where’s Mrs. Jeager?” Levi asked, “She should know better than to leave you alone on nights like these.” 

 

“You know my mom?”  _ If they knew her maybe they could help her! _

 

“Yeah, Mrs. Jeager was always there when we were growing up, until you were born. Then she started to bring you over to our house and we would often play.  I don’t expect you to remember though you were really young.” Mikasa recounted. Her voice nostalgic, as if that past was a fantasy no longer in reach; something out of her happiest dreams.

 

“My mom was here! I got home and she was here but she didn’t let me inside!” Eren reached out desperately. He felt Mikasa’s hands back on his.

 

“Eren, calm down, tell us what happened once you got home.” Mikasa’s soothing voice did little to calm him. But he tried to find his breath. He needed to make them understand, he needed their help since he couldn’t see.

 

“I came back from work and Mom took a long time to answer door and when she did, she pretended it wasn’t me. She told me to run. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t leave her, she’s the only family I have left.” Eren’s voice was breaking, but he needed to keep going, “ so I broke in looking for her, and there were these, these, I don’t know okay? I just know she has to be here somewhere. Hiding from whatever she told me to run from. Please find her!” Eren was out of breath by the end. A small part of him wondered if Mikasa even understood what he said. But she did.

 

“Levi, search the house.” Eren didn’t know if Levi even moved because he heard nothing except his own harsh breaths, and Mikasa’s calm breaths in front of him. But he must have left because Mikasa was speaking to him again. Trying to calm him down. He felt something touch his cheeks, drying the tears he didn’t even know were there. 

 

Eren should have been feeling lost, like he did when the lightning took away his sight, but he wasn’t. He was scared, worried, and confused, but he wasn’t lost. He still had the hope that his mother was there, and she would come to him. Or that this was all just a detailed dream and the obnoxious sound of his alarm would wake him any second. But it wasn’t a dream. It felt too real. His senses were heightened at the lack of their visual counterpart, and he could feel it to his very soul that this was real.

 

Mikasa’s low voice and her hands kept him grounded while he waited, and waited and waited, for Levi to return with his mom. But he didn’t. He came back alone. Eren heard him step around the rubble, but didn’t hear his mom.

 

“Where is she?” his voice cracked.

 

“Eren there’s no one in the house, except for us.” Levi’s voice was gentle, like he was trying not to frighten a wild animal. Except it didn’t work.

 

“No she has to be here! There’s no way she could have left! I would see her! Are you sure you checked properly?” Eren removed his hands from Mikasa’s and started to get up, despite his bag weighing him down. Blindly reaching out his hands to find a wall to guide him. He would find his mom.  _ Levi didn’t look properly, it’s not his house and he probably doesn’t even care, but I know and I do and I will find her.  _

 

“Eren wait, you can’t see, you’ll hurt yourself!” Mikasa caught Eren as he was about to trip over rubble. “Listen there’s no one here, and we can’t stay, in case more monsters show up. I think your mom told you to run and she herself ran too. When monsters attack they leave behind traces of their victims and there’s nothing here, I would feel it.”

 

“Come to think of it, I think I passed by a door that was unlocked. I’m pretty sure she escaped through there.” Levi tried, and this seemed to work. Eren knew they always kept doors locked. His mom must have fled too. Why she would leave him, or why they couldn’t flee together, he didn’t understand but as long as she was alive, Eren would find her.  _ She’s not dead, _ she’s not dead,  _ I won’t allow her to be dead, I will find her. And I will hurt whoever--whatever--separated us. _

 

Mikasa and Levi took Eren’s silence as a good sign. They explained to Eren that there was a doctor at their workplace that could give him back his sight, and that they would help him find his mom. Eren agreed; he couldn’t do much being blind anyways. He couldn’t stay in the house and it was still pouring outside. Levi and Mikasa seemed to know him and his mom, so he would stick to their side for now.

 

He didn’t know what to think of the shadows he saw, or the monsters Levi and Mikasa had apparently saved him from ( _ were they even the same? The monsters and the shadows? Because I didn’t see monsters. _ ). There was too much going on, and he needed answers. He needed his vision. And both were promised to him by the two strangers.

 

They decided to leave through the back door since there was too much rubble to leave through the hole in the wall or the front door. Had Eren not lost his vision, he would have seen the back door when they approached it and left through it. He would have seen that the door was locked from the inside, the key still hanging beside it on its hook. He would have realized that the door was opened for the first time that night when they passed through it. He would have realized Levi had lied. But he had lost his vision; so he didn’t notice any of this. So he left the house; with his mother’s body still there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked! 
> 
> I'm not that confident about my writing and I usually don't know if my writing is seamless and flows nice and if the reader can feel the emotions and atmosphere of the scenes, so please let me know if you were able to or not. As always let me know what you liked, didn't like, thoughts, comments, what you will think will happen, or what IS happening lol. Because now I have a vague idea of where this story is going even if idk the final ending yet.
> 
> Anyways I appreciate constructive criticism so don't be afraid to let me know how to improve I don't get offended easily lol.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	3. UPDATE

So just an update! I didn't upload for a while and haven't written the next chapter yet because of family problems and now my exam is next week so I can't write the next chapter until I'm done. you can expect the chapter by early next week.

Also great news I finally have a very rough outline of the plot points so now this story has some directions and I will do my best to stick with the outline. how long it will take me to get through it I have no clue because I wanna write the story in a way that flows and isn't choppy with sudden relationships building out of nowhere or skipping character development. so you guys are in for a long ride.

a fun fact, I wrote one of the chapters that explain the world and history so you guys and Eren aren't confused, but that isn't for a while. my biggest problem is how to fit in some characters. so far I have easily fit in Eren (duh lol) Levi, Mikasa, Armin, Hanji, Moblit, Erwin, Carla, Grisha, Ymir and a brief mention of Gabi. if you want other characters please let me know in the comments so I can find a way to fit them in as well. Maybe ill add them to the team lol. 

I have also changed the tags so it better fits the outline of the story.

any questions? lol

here's my [twitter](https://twitter.com/mknae_line) and [Tumblr](http://wngsoffreedom104.tumblr.com) btw just for fun. I love speaking with ppl and I always check them no matter how busy I am, since it's easier to check social media than it is to write lol.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! 
> 
> now I'm still new to writing so PLEASE leave some thoughts and comments and criticism about what you liked and disliked and maybe how I can improve and what to change. or you can just talk about the story since I'm trying to find a path for it lol.


End file.
